The All State

By Devon Robinson | Sports Editor

Dear Diary,

Eagerly, I have waited to finally break into the FFJ. I sit with confusion today. Marlon and Devon think they will beat me in the one sport I have grown up playing and almost worshiping. I think it is time the Zen Master has met the pattawag that will defeat them in his art.

My team BiLlBoBaGgInZ is just a sign of my character of being crazy, and I have led it into my picks.

I drafted Drew Brees with my first pick in the draft and he did not disappoint lighting up the stats with six touchdowns. I also picked up the two top tight ends with Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez.

My top Wide Receiver is Larry Fitzgerald and I expect big things out of him because my wide outs are not known for being statistical machines but I shall keep my faith in them.

My running backs are bruisers with Lendale White and Joseph Addai. My Defenses are the San Diego Chargers and the “Blitzburgh” Steelers and I do not need to say anything about either of them.As I take a look at the scores of our week one match ups, I lead Marlon by 27 points and Devon by 38 points.

But I sit with a full passion bucket,

Anthony Shingler

Dear Diary,

I woke up Sunday, Sept. 13, lit a couple of candles, to begin awakening the spirits with what I call an opening day séance.

It’s so crazy to see so many people scramble to their respective spots to catch their opening game. In the age of social networking, the NFL’s stranglehold on much of our sports culture is even more apparent.

Of course, that brings me to talk about our journalistic brainchild, Fantasy Football Journal. Marlon and Anthony are amongst the unfortunate who will bare my wrath this season.

A sign of my diligence to carrying out this act was drafting Marlon’s quarterback from last season, Peyton Manning.

Manning had an average day for his standards which still gave me a decent amount of points for the game. Manning’s top receiver, Reggie Wayne, was my star player on opening day and it wasn’t that much of surprise. I patiently wait for the results of Randy Moss after his game against Buffalo, and this will determine if I win my first game or not.

I should put some stock into Kleenex, Marlon and Anthony are going to buy a good bit of it this season.

Looking up good stockholders,

Devon Robinson

Dear Diary,

I have been carrying a handkerchief lately because the opportunity to once again prove my superior fantasy football acumen is making me drool uncontrollably.My condition took a turn for the worse after the draft. Fate had a laugh at my expense by making me draft between Robinson and Shingler. I will give Robinson credit. He drafted much better this season.

Conversely, some of Shingler’s picks had me questioning his sanity.

By the time Sunday , Sept. 13 came, I had upgraded from handkerchiefs to towels because my hunger to devour my coworkers had me acting like Pavlov’s dog sitting in a bell tower at high noon.

Thanks to a solid day by all my running backs and a great day by Jeremy Shockey, I spent most of the day grinning wetly with a lead.

Unfortunately, a disappointing performance by the Bears defense left me behind my opponent by less than three points and dry mouthed at the end of the day.

Now I’m praying for a great game by my quarterback Philip Rivers and thanking the higher power for still having Boomer and Tom Jackson with Madden gone, Amen.

Marlon Scott

By Devon Robinson | Sports Editor and Anthony Shingler | Assistant Sports Editor

Terrence Holt carries the ball for a touchdown at the scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 22. Photo by Lois Jones | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Sophomore Ryan White returns this season as the team’s starting running back. He finished last season with 600 yards with 118 carries and 5.1 yards per carry.

While the Govs’ running game was consistent, they still needed some work at the quarterback game. APSU saw the play of three different quarterbacks last season in T.C. Jennings, Gary Orr and Trent Caffee. All three will share time this season.

Caffee, junior, started the last four games of the season and remained consistent for the remainder of it. Throwing for seven touchdowns, he completed 51 of 89 passes for 644 yards. He will be returning this season as the starting quarterback.

The Govs also look to add depth to their receiver position as six players from last season gained more than 100 receiving yards. Leading the returning receivers is Darryl Miller, who last year garnered 296 receiving yards with a total of 3 touchdowns. Right behind him was junior Adrian Mines with 254 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Jeff Lyle who will be returning this season at fullback, gained 166 receiving yards and the team-high four total touchdowns.

For the defense, nine starters will be lead by leading tackler Daniel Becker and Kevin Buckley’s Ohio Valley Conference leading six interceptions, they lead an APSU defense filled with seniors. Head coach, Rick Christophel, wants his seniors to step up. “I expect leadership first of all. Most of [the seniors] have been here for four or five years,” Christophel said. “I expect more of a leadership role out of anything.”
With APSU having nine starters returning much will be expected out of a team who went 2-9, and losing three out of the 11 games by three or fewer points.

“Hopefully we will be able compete in every game, that is the biggest thing. We try to get into the fourth quarter as much as we can and get ourselves into position to win the game,” Christophel said.
As the defense looks to use these starters to full advantage, true freshman kicker Stephen Stansell will have arguably the most pressure as he sures up a kicking game, which saw its fair share of woes last season.
Stansell, who went perfect through training camp in extra points, will look to help improve the 12 fields made on 20 attempts, while finishing 63 percent on points after touchdowns, making 12 out of 19 attempts.

APSU will take full advantage of a preseason All-American candidate, Terrence Holt, as a kick returner. Holt, who finished 15th nationally last season in all-purpose yards, will look to help the offense gain good field position, and after breaking his own OVC mark for kick return yards of 1,285 yards last season, big things are expected from him as well.

With training camp ending, APSU is looking forward to the game against Newberry College, slated for Saturday, Sept. 5, with a 6 p.m. kickoff at home.

– Devon Robinson, Sports Editor and Anthony Shingler, Asst. Sports Editor